New Zealand in the Pacific War ─ Personal Accounts of World War II

With America's 1941 entry into World War II and the movement of Japanese forces into the southern Pacific, a number of U.S. troops were sent to protect New Zealand so that their troops might remain with commitments in the Middle East and other important, established locations. Many American military men found New Zealand to be a second home as they were welcomed and adopted into communities by the locals. Over the course of the next four years, almost 1400 New Zealand women married American servicemen. The individual interviews herein record the varied and interesting tapestry of New Zealand's often overlooked war contribution and new relationship with America: New Zealand war veterans, New Zealanders on the home front, and American servicemen stationed on the island nation during the war. Four interviews with adults born as a result of American soldier--New Zealand women love affairs shed light on this sometimes uncomfortable aspect of all foreign wars. Photographs and short biographies of the interviewees round out this fascinating oral history.

Bruce M. Petty is also the author of At War in the Pacific (2006) and Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War (2002). He lives in New Plymouth, New Zealand.